The Right Choice - Chapter 11
"My girlfriend's a werewolf"! =]
Love that is not madness is not love.
Pedro Calderon de la Barca
~*~*~*~*~*~*
Stephan smiled as he ate one of the chocolates he had bought for Nikki. She wouldn't mind, she'd just eat the rest teasingly slow while staring at him and keeping them all to herself. Which he wouldn't stop her from doing, he would just reserve that image in his head to draw later on. She was so capturing. He couldn't get her out of his head.
He swung the carrier bag to the beat as he listened to his iPod. He came to Nikki's gate, opened it and walked round to the back. She wouldn't expect him to come in through that way. She had told him to come over at any time. His music was turned up so loud, that he didn't hear the shouting. He peeked in through the back door window and saw Nikki gesturing wildly at Skye. He was about to knock when they both turned towards the door. He stepped back and stumbled over a plant pot. He caught himself in time, just stopping himself from hitting the floor, his iPod falling out of his pocket and yanking the ear buds out of his ears. . And that's how he was when the door opened. Kneeling on the cold concrete.
He stared up into light green eyes, ringed by silver and dotted with little hazel flecks. Wait a minute...
He knew those eyes...
He gasped when he realized that those familiar eyes were attached to a great big...wolf! It was huge, towering over him as he crouched, it's light brown fur rippling over it's muscles. Stephan pushed himself back, away from it. He scrambled to stand up, but didn't run like every instinct in him was screaming at him to do. Instead he tensed his body and held eye contact with the wolf, sure that was what you were supposed to do when faced with a giant predator. He didn't know what was going on, but he knew that somehow Nikki was connected with it all. The wolf's lips pulled back over it's teeth and it growled quietly.
Okay, maybe Nikki wasn't connected with this. If she was, he was pretty sure she wouldn't be growling at him. He saw Skye's pale face momentarily before his attention was drawn back to the hulking great beast.
It had to manipulate it's body to fit through the doorway; there was something almost graceful in its movements. It stalked forward slowly, towards him. He held his breath, not sure what to do. It stopped about a foot away from him, eyes level with his chest. When it became apparent that it was waiting for something, Stephan swallowed and raised his hand. He lay his shaking fingers on the wolf's head and gently stroked the fur there. The wolf closed it's eyes and whined, though it was nowhere near the sound a dog would make. It was deep and reverberated from deep in its body. This wasn't reassuring, as Stephan was sure the wolf had intended it to be. It just reminded him of the wolf's size.
Fascinated more than terrified, Stephan stepped closer and stroked from the top of its head to its muzzle. It pushed his hand softly and opened it's eyes. Stephan knew then. This wolf, it wasn't an It. It was a she. And to be more specific, it was she that Stephan was in love with. He froze, breath whooshing out of his body. It was Nikki. He was so sure. It was Nikki! All rational thought left his mind. His vision was swimming. He was now seeing two wolves in front of him. He heard Skye call his name, but it startled him. So he did the only thing he knew how to.
He ran.
He turned and shot off, leaving Nikki behind and trodding his iPod underfoot. He didn't stop until he got to his house, where he unlocked the door, his hands shaking so badly that it took a long time to slot the key in. Graham wasn't in; he was doing food shopping.
He ran upstairs to his room and sat against the door, chest heaving.
"Fuck" he said to his carpet and slumped down onto it.
"My girlfriend's a werewolf" he said after a few minutes of silence. Then he blacked out.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Nikki stared at Stephan's retreating back in shock. She wasn't sure what to do. For a split second she entertained the notion of chasing after him, then realized how ridiculously stupid that would be. Imagine the chaos it would cause. A hulking wolf chasing a boy down the street. Skye stepped out behind her.
"I'll ring Graham" she muttered and stroked Nikki's neck absently. Nikki shifted her weight, the need to run was overwhelming. She whined again. Skye looked down at her and Nikki knew Skye understood because she removed her hand and moved a step back.
"Go. Don't do anything stupid" she raised an eyebrow. Nikki forced a Wolfy grin and then disappeared.
The air whistled in her ears and she crashed to a halt beside her favorite tree. She sat down heavily and stared at the rushing water.
Did Stephan hate her?
Did he even realize that it was Nikki whose fur he had stroked?
Somehow she doubted that he hadn't.
She thought that if wolves could cry, then she could.
She had ruined it.
She tried to run off her misery but it caught up with her after a few miles and she got sick of the feeling. She phased back into human and got dressed. Her bikini was becoming more and more appealing every minute. It even seemed to be winking at her - that was when Nikki knew she had finally snapped. She groaned, but pulled it on anyway and dived into the stream.
She broke the surface and sighed. The cold water felt good against her skin and she did a few laps. She'd never swam the length of the stream before, but as she eyed what appeared to be a short distance, she decided that today she would. Taking a deep breath she sunk down under the water. It was murky, but she could see. She considered herself quite a good swimmer. Not professional, but good enough that if she did enter a competition, she would land at least third place.
The further she swam, the stronger the current got. She enjoyed stretching her muscles out and exerting her strength. She had to come up for breath in shorter intervals but she fancied the challenge of dodging the jutting rocks and jostling current. She convinced herself it would be fun.
~*~*~*~
Stephan woke up with a jolt. His neck was hurting, his mouth was dry and his eyes were grainy. He ignored those little problems; he had other things on his mind. His dream had been so vivid.
Nikki was swimming in the stream by the stretch of trees that she liked so much. She had been grinning, fighting against the current. Suddenly, she misjudged how much air she needed and swallowed a mouthful of water. She choked, spluttering and unable to breathe, water flooding all her senses. The strength left her limbs and she struggled to continue swimming. The current slammed her into a rock jutting out from the stream, she screamed as it cut into her abdomen and clutched onto it in desperation. She scrabbled for holds but the slippery greenery plastered all over the rock was impossible to grip. She slipped off and was immediately propelled into another one.
Stephan didn't feel as if it were a normal dream. Somehow it appeared to be a premonition. He was no psychic, but he knew when to listen to his body.
But just to double check, he got up, wincing and made his way downstairs. His dad was standing at the bottom of the stairs. He'd obviously just got in and looked worried.
"Ste -" he began but Stephan cut him off.
"Dad, I gotta go. I think Nikki's in trouble" he muttered and tried to push past Graham.
Graham barred his way.
"Woah! What do you mean?" he asked. Stephan sighed and described his dream as quickly as he could.
Graham's brow wrinkled as his worry increased tenfold.
"This is not good. Skye said that Nikki had gone over there" he grabbed his keys. Stephan pulled his coat off the banister and slipped it on.
"Grab a few towels and a bottle of water from the fridge and I'll start the car" Graham ordered.
Stephan did as instructed and ran to the car. The car was speeding off before his door was even closed. On the way to the stream, Graham had Stephan ring Skye. She started crying and said she'd meet them there.
Stephan stared out the window, his forehead creased, his eyes dark. All thoughts of werewolves were pushed way, way to the back.
He only hoped his 'dream' was just that. A dream.
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